Apparatus for excluding water from drilled wells for oil



J. C. SWAN.

APPARATUS FOR EXCLUDING WATER FROM DRILLED WELLS FOR OIL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. Io, 1919.

.l 4 l 3, l 97 o Patented pr. 18, 1922.

PPL Y I To F1a/@PRESSURE 70 HOTWHTEH 5U @iV/CE TO VACUUM PII/VIP SOL/D ROCK.

alito'rm m30 Unirse sTAras JPM'E .Tomi c. SWAN, or mAnIETTA, omo.

To alluikoim may coacem: V

Be it known that I, JOHN C. SWAN, a citizen of the United States, residing'at Mari-v etta,'in the county of MWashington and State 'of ohio,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for ExcludingWater from Drilled Wells for Oil, of which the following is a specification.

In the usual methods of drilling wells for oil, it is` the custom when a water-bearing stratum is encounteredl and drilled through to insert into the bore, al casing consisting of a series of lengths of connected steel or iron pipes of suitable diameter, this'casingextending beneath the water-bearing stratum and thereby shutting off the waterfrom thebore. As successive water-bearing strata are lencountered, additional strin/gsl of casin'g are inserted.' These successive strings extend one inside the other from the surface to a location below the-water and the need of them necessitates the starting of the bore Iwith, a

- sufficient diameter to permit the insertion of as many strings of caslng as may be necessar .v

(lybviously, large quantities of steel andl iron in the form of pipes are used, andthe cost of transportation to the location where the holeis being bored and the cost of labor for their installation is very large in addition to `the purchase cost. l

Further the drilling of an7 initially largel hole is necessitated, which adds to the cost of the well.

In-my companion application, SerialNo.

' "253,082, filed September 7, 1918, now Pat ent No. 1,307,027, patented Jme 17,1919, I have described` a method of sealingup the successive water-bearing strata in the' bore,

whereby the necessity for using successive drilling laiholes are obviated. v p cording to this method, the porous seemed, orstratified rock through which the water enters the` bore is preferably first heated, toy such a degree that a fluid sealing compound forced into the bore will freely "enter the pores or interstice's of the watercontaining stratum and will thereafter con- 'geal or set -into a mass suiiiciently solid to prevent the further ingress o'f water into peratures the bore. As such sealing compounds, I pre-v fer to use materials which are liquid at temabove 'the natural temperature of the water-'bearing stratum, but which will be solidr or semi-solid at that temperature.

' Speci'nvcation of Letters Patent.

whose lower length is, at its 4Application led February 10, 1919. Serial 11o. 276,116.

Nr forrlc. f'

Such materials are paraiin, resin, coal-tar,""A

pitch, asphalt, etc.,`either alone or in suitable combination with each other or other materials which will give them the property above referred to. A A

Asfdescribed in'such companion application, in. carrying `out the method. where a v compound 1s used which requires heat to make it liquid, I force into the well aJsuitable heating medium such as hot'water which may be heated under sufficient' pressure to raise its temperature to-a suitable ydegree above its boiling point at atmospheric pressure. Thehot water is forced into the well under suiicient pressure to overcome the hydrostatic head of the water in the porous stratum and forces its wayinto the porous -mass thereby heating the same to such a (ilegres-that when the liquified sealing compound is introduced it will be able to permeate the water bearing strata to the desired `extent to insure complete exclusion ofc the water from the bore of the well when the material is allowed to. cool and set in place.

Different filling materials will require difl ferent temperatures for successful penetration of the porous rock, e. asphalt will require va considerably higher temperatur'ethan paraffin. The present invention relates to the apparatus for carrying out the method described and'one embodiment thereof is. illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein the figure represents a section through' a drilled well showing the apparatus in place. Referring to these drawings, 1 is th/ebore of the well, 2 is al string of steel or iron pipes extending downward into the bore. rounding the string 2 is a second string 3 i lower end, secured through suitable cduplings''mto the pipe 2. -As shown, this connection is made y an ordinary form of screw pipe coupling, but it is'prefer'red to weldthis joint so that the lower portion of the'pipe 3 is hermetically sealed'to the interior piping 2. At its upper portion the pipe 3^is provlded with a stuing box 5 through which passes the' pipe 2, and is also provided with a T-head to. which is connected thepipe 6 provided with Sur- ' formed with whereby the loss of heat from the hot water and rock filling compound is prevented.

being lowered into the well so that none of the Water present inthe well can find its Way intothe space between the string 2 and the string 3, and it is essential that Water shall be excluded fromthis space.

The upper portion of the pipe 2.is provided with a coupling 40, to-which is connected a valved pipe 2O leading to a suitable source of pressure fluid such as cold water, gas or air. Another valved pipe 42, is connected to any suitable means for supplying hot water, such as a steamboiler, notfshown. A removable screw-plug 16 is located at the top of the coupling to permit the insertion of the expansible pistons 117 and 18. These pistons are preferably cylinders of rubber a central cavity.

Below the -end of theI heat-insulating casing 3 and around the pipe 2 and`between that pipe and the wall of the boreis inserted an oil Well packer 9 of the construction coinmonly used in oil wells, or of any special construction which the special circumstances ofuse `may require. As shown the packer consists of a rubber tube `10 compressed between iange` couplings v11 and 12, the coupling 11 being secured to the pipe A2, and the coupling'12. resting upon pipe l13 which is inturn, screwed on to the perforated pipe x14,

' this pipeconstituting in effect a continuaa tion of the pipe 2.

As will be readily underpacker provides a slip joint for whereby the weight of the superstoodthis the pipe 2 incumbent strings of pipewill compress the -rubber and force it inwardly and outwardly int/0 a Water tight engagement with the pipe 2 and the walls ofthe bore.- The perforated pipe 14 is provided at screw-cap closure 15..

The upper portion of the pipe 2 is ma-l chine-finishedy on the outside to provide a smooth. surface whereby the pipe under the expanslon incident to heat may pass freely through the stufi-ngbox 5 while maintaining a hermetically sealed joint.

In operation the vacuum pump withdraws the air from the space between the pipes 2 v the pipe 2 and out and 3 thereby forming an effective heat insulation around the 'pipe' 2. Hot water which has been heated preferably under pressure so 'that it is at a suitable temperature, is passed `downwardly from pipe 42 4through through the perforations the bottom with a.

in the pipe 14 and thence into the chamber formed between the packer and the bottomdepend upon. the character of the rock, un" l til the heating to the requisite temperature a has extended radially from Vthe bore to a s'ulicient distance. The sup-ply of hot water" is then shutoff, the plug 16 at'the ,top of pipe 2 is removed and an expansible piston 17preferably4 of rubber, is then inserted ing compound is introduced. A second eX- pansible piston 1-8 is then inserted over the charge of li uid filling compound and the plug 16 replaced. The pistons are then forced down ,into the bore. by a suitable pressure means, such as cold water or high pressure air or gas introduced througlrthe pipe 20. Under the pressure thus exerted the' lower piston will move to the bottom of pipe 2 whereupon the charge of liquid filling compoundwill flow through the perforations and into the interstices, seams or crevices/in the waterbearing-porous rock. This impregnation of the water bearing stratum will proceed from the bore outwardly until vthe liquid 4filling material comes into contact with the rock material at a temperature low enough to cause it to congeal or freeze in place thereby completely sealing the orifices through which water enters the seal and the balance of the filler is heldunder pressure for the necessary period of time to effect cooling to congelation. This samel operation is 'repeated as often as water producing stratas arel penetrated bythe bore. In the absence ofcaving walls the bore of the well may be of the same diameter from the surface of the ished depth ofthe well. i

After the withdrawal 'of the strings of pipe 2 and 3 and the packing, theresidual mass of filling material can be drilled up by the usual process of drilling.

ground to the n- It will be apparent therefore that my in` vention enables a perfectly and permanently dry well to be bored'without the use of any casings for the purpose of excluding water, since the filling material when solidified forms awater-excluding barrier of suicient strength to withstand the hydrostatic pressure behind it. v

Ordinarily Water is encountered in sandstone which varies in texture. from large crystalline formation t0 very fine grain.

It will be readily understood that the coarser grained structure will absorb larger quantities of the -filling material and fill further back from the bore hole than the liner grain formation; and in the event of 80 i into the pipe 2 an-d the chargeof liquid illlarge crevices being present, Va larger quantity of filling material must be used to ob- ,tain the necessary penetration for successful water exclusion.

It will be noted that the string of tublng has secured t0 it, near its lower end and tachment ofthe elevators to the casing by the common and well known method. I believe 't-hat I am the first to propose the concurrent -lowering into a well of a combined string of tubing and casing having between them a fluid-tight space.

In`this art, the term tubing 1s usually appliedto the inner piping through which the oil flows from the well; while the term casing is applied to the piping surroun ing the tubing, and these terms are used in the claims with these meanings.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for eXcludin water from wells, comprising a string of tubing open at its lower end to the water-bearing stratum `of `the well, means for introducing con'- gealable, liquid filling-material through said tubing under pressure into the water-bearing stratum, l'a lcasing-j acket around the tubing, and means foi` producingla vacuumV in said jacket. y

2. Apparatus for excluding water from wells, comprising a string of tubing open at its lower end to the water-bearing stratum of the well, means for introducing a heating medium and means for forcing congealable, liquid filling-material through said tubing into the water-bearing stratum, and a vacuum heat-insulating jacket surrounding said tubing.

3. Apparatus forexcluding water from wells, comprising a string of tubing open at its lower end to the water-bearing stratum of the well, means for introducing a heating medium and means for forcing congealable, liquid filling-material through said tubing into the water-bearing stratum, a casing jacket around the tubing, andI means for producing a vacuum within said jacket.

4. Apparatus for excluding water from wells, comprising a string of tubing open at its lower end to the water-bearing stratumof the well, means forintroducing hot water into the tubing, means for forcing congealable, liquid-lling, materi'al through said tubing into the water-bearing stratum inluding a pair of pistons between which the charge of filling-material is carried through sa1d tublng and a source of fluid pressure, and heat-lnsulatmg means for sa1d tubing.

5. Apparatus for excluding water from wells, comprising a string-of tubing open at its lower end, avpacker surrounding said tubing near its lower end, and a fluid-tight casing-jacket surrounding said tubing above the packer.

6. Apparatus for excluding water from wells, comprising a string of tubing open at its lower end, a packer surrounding said tubing near vits lower end, a {luid-tight casing-jacket surrounding said tubing above the packer, and means for introducing con gealable,` liquid filling-material through said tubing under pressure into the water-bearin stratum.

' n testimony whereof, fI alix my signa ture.

JOHN C. SWAN. 

